Geneva students learn about neighbors around the world

Students fly the kites they created during Mill Creek Elementary's "Who's Your Neighbor Day." The students learned about how children around the world have fun. (Special to the Tribune, Alexa Aguilar)

The students at Geneva Community Unit School District 304's Mill Creek Elementary School had their passports stamped for a visit around the globe last month as part of the school's annual initiative to consider the world outside of Geneva's boundaries.

Now in its third year, Who's Your Neighbor Day was the brainchild of teachers, parents and former Principal Andy Barrett, who thought a day of fun activities aimed at increasing awareness of other cultures and customs for kindergartners through fifth-graders could be beneficial.

"I think people do see the value of asking our students to reflect on the fact there are people who are different than them and whose dinner may look different — not better or worse, just different," said Barrett, now the district's director of curriculum.

Geneva's students largely share the same type of backgrounds and experiences, he said, and they don't encounter different cultures or experiences by a trip down the street or to the grocery store.

"It's harder for our kids to learn from people from a different background or with different experiences … and when everyone you see has had the same experiences, you may think your way is the right one," he said.

This year students spent the day in a variety of themed activities, capped by a visit from Munto, an African dance troupe from Chicago that had the students on their feet and moving in rhythm with the African drums.

Students made kites — apparently a popular activity of children around the world — in art, while seventh-graders from Geneva Middle School visited and taught the younger students about the ways children like them have fun throughout the world.

The older students had selected a country, researched its customs, then taught the younger students. When they were done, each child received a stamp in a handmade passport book. In one classroom, a group of second- and fifth-graders gathered around seventh-grader Carolina Carbray, who explained that while children in Australia enjoyed playing video games just like them, they also enjoyed watching turtles and catching lizards.

Seventh-grade language arts teacher Chris McKechnie said her students benefited from having to share their research with younger students while also thinking outside of the norm.

"It's an opportunity for our students to see that the world is larger than Geneva," McKechnie said ."And it's wonderful for our kids to have an authentic audience for their work."